Important Dates
December 23-January 1- Winter Recess- No classes
Vocal Concert
The chorus students put on a fabulous chorus concert! What musical talent!!!
Celebrate History Writing Contest
The local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution is sponsoring the annual Celebrate History Essay Writing Contest. One winning essay from this area will advance to the state level. Local winner will receive a certificate and a medal.
This year’s topic: “March 22, 2015 marked the 250th anniversary of the Stamp Act. Passed by the British Parliament in 1765, this new tax required all colonists to pay a tax on every printed piece of paper they used. The Stamp Act was viewed by the colonists as “taxation without representation.” Describe a colonial family’s discussion about the new Stamp Act and what role it played in organizing the colonists against the British King and Parliament.”
Requirements: Grade 5: 300-600 words/Grades 6-8: 600-1,000 words. Essays must be typed and include a bibliography of sources used. Deadline for the essay to be submitted to Mrs. Nowack is January 7, 2016.
The Old Creamery Theater 2016 Writing Contest
Each year students are encouraged to participate in the Old Creamery Theatre writing contest. Students are invited to write a creative, original story about a character or characters that learn a lesson involving one or more of the Six Pillars (Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Citizenship). The selected winners will receive gift cards up to $100 and become the basis for Character Chronicles, a show that will be seen by tens of thousands of students all over Iowa (including Decorah Community Schools). Please visit the following website for requirements, story writing tips, and information about how to enter the contest. All entries must be postmarked or emailed no later than January 15, 2016.
NEWS FLASH!!
From Mr. Peterson: In science we are exploring mystery substances. Our goal is to engage in scientific argumentation. In reading, we have been looking at strategies to learn new vocabulary, and we’ve been creating Google Slide shows to help us learn some new words. In writing we published our Wonderopolis piece today to Kidblog. Ask you child to log on and show you what we’ve done!
From Mrs. Nowack: We wrapped up our solar system unit with the test on Tuesday. We’ll spend the remainder of our time until break focusing on STEM activities. In reading class, students have finished their historical fiction novels, we’ll wrap those up next week. You should see your child reading about 20-30 min/night (they will be required to write a summary on a good-fit book before the end of the quarter). This week in language class, students have been revising their creative writing.
From Mrs. Halweg: In math this week we finished our unit on converting improper fractions to mixed numbers, and solving story problems that involve mixed number answers. Your student is bringing the assessment over these skills home today. Their only math homework this weekend is to get this assessment signed and to return it to school on Monday. Next week we’ll be practicing finding equivalent fractions in preparation for our next unit of study- adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators.
December 23-January 1- Winter Recess- No classes
Vocal Concert
The chorus students put on a fabulous chorus concert! What musical talent!!!
Celebrate History Writing Contest
The local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution is sponsoring the annual Celebrate History Essay Writing Contest. One winning essay from this area will advance to the state level. Local winner will receive a certificate and a medal.
This year’s topic: “March 22, 2015 marked the 250th anniversary of the Stamp Act. Passed by the British Parliament in 1765, this new tax required all colonists to pay a tax on every printed piece of paper they used. The Stamp Act was viewed by the colonists as “taxation without representation.” Describe a colonial family’s discussion about the new Stamp Act and what role it played in organizing the colonists against the British King and Parliament.”
Requirements: Grade 5: 300-600 words/Grades 6-8: 600-1,000 words. Essays must be typed and include a bibliography of sources used. Deadline for the essay to be submitted to Mrs. Nowack is January 7, 2016.
The Old Creamery Theater 2016 Writing Contest
Each year students are encouraged to participate in the Old Creamery Theatre writing contest. Students are invited to write a creative, original story about a character or characters that learn a lesson involving one or more of the Six Pillars (Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Citizenship). The selected winners will receive gift cards up to $100 and become the basis for Character Chronicles, a show that will be seen by tens of thousands of students all over Iowa (including Decorah Community Schools). Please visit the following website for requirements, story writing tips, and information about how to enter the contest. All entries must be postmarked or emailed no later than January 15, 2016.
NEWS FLASH!!
From Mr. Peterson: In science we are exploring mystery substances. Our goal is to engage in scientific argumentation. In reading, we have been looking at strategies to learn new vocabulary, and we’ve been creating Google Slide shows to help us learn some new words. In writing we published our Wonderopolis piece today to Kidblog. Ask you child to log on and show you what we’ve done!
From Mrs. Nowack: We wrapped up our solar system unit with the test on Tuesday. We’ll spend the remainder of our time until break focusing on STEM activities. In reading class, students have finished their historical fiction novels, we’ll wrap those up next week. You should see your child reading about 20-30 min/night (they will be required to write a summary on a good-fit book before the end of the quarter). This week in language class, students have been revising their creative writing.
From Mrs. Halweg: In math this week we finished our unit on converting improper fractions to mixed numbers, and solving story problems that involve mixed number answers. Your student is bringing the assessment over these skills home today. Their only math homework this weekend is to get this assessment signed and to return it to school on Monday. Next week we’ll be practicing finding equivalent fractions in preparation for our next unit of study- adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators.